Kuwait: The constitutional court on Wednesday held its first hearing on about 50 challenges made against general election results and decided to issue verdicts on Nov 23 on some of the cases. The court also asked the interior ministry to provide the court with full details of the counting of votes and the number of votes each candidate received during the Sept 29 snap polls.

A number of challenges demanded to scrap the polls, claiming that two Amiri decrees issued ahead of the polls violated the constitution and thus the elections were unconstitutional. In a number of other challenges, candidates who lost close contests demanded the votes to be recounted, stressing they had garnered enough votes to declare them winners.

Meanwhile, Minister of Public Works and Electricity and Water, Amani Bugammaz refuted charges that her appointment in the Cabinet constituted a violation of conflict-of-interest rules. The minister told the Assembly session that she worked as an advisor to a Turkish company carrying out the airport project on an assignment by Kuwait University, where she worked as a professor of engineering.

The Turkish firm has a multibillion-dollar contract with the ministry of public works, which is now headed by Bugammaz. Bugammaz also said that she stopped her relationship with the company in April this year, some six months before she was appointed to the ministerial post. However, MP Jenan Bushehri, who was herself a minister of public works several years ago, insisted that public funds remain threatened because of the minister’s appointment.

In the meantime, MP Marzouq Al-Hubaini called on the government to allocate public hospitals entirely for Kuwaiti citizens, stateless people or bedoons and domestic helpers, and ask expats to seek medical care at private hospitals through a health insurance scheme. At present, expats are allowed to receive treatment at public hospitals and clinics, but only after paying an annual fee of KD 50 per year, in addition to paying charges for most medical treatments.

During the debate of the Amiri Address, MP Hubaini and several others called on the government to find quick solutions for the decades-old problem of about 120,000 bedoons. Hubaini said he is calling for a solution mainly for the interest of Kuwait, because the country must get rid of this dilemma. He said the solution is simple: Those who deserve citizenship must be given one and the rest should be dealt with civil courts.

MP Mohammad Hayef also called for resolving the plight of bedoons, saying many bedoon families are facing difficult circumstances as they can’t get jobs. MP Muhalhal Al-Mudhaf said that to achieve durable political stability in Kuwait, the government must be backed by a parliamentary majority. A number of lawmakers however cautioned the prime minister that if his government does not translate its pledges into actions, it could face tough times ahead and be held accountable. They demanded the government to present a reasonable program of action as soon as possible. The Assembly was then adjourned until Nov 29.